Boston Celtics: What NBA Summer League status says about Aaron Nesmith

The Boston Celtics released a list of Summer League participants for the annual Las Vegas session in July, and it included a mix of recent second-round picks (including Yam Madar and Juhann Begarin) undrafted free agents, and two-way contract holders.

Who is still TBD is 2020 first-round draft pick Aaron Nesmith, who played for the Cs in Las Vegas last summer but did not parlay that into a meaningful role on the 2021-22 Eastern Conference champion Celtics, unlike his Class of 2020 fellow first-round draftmate Payton Pritchard.

Boston is expected to be active this week with both their TPEs and their stash of future second-round picks–they own three in 2023 alone that they are aiming to flip for a first-rounder in this draft–and Nesmith could be part of the dealings, made evident by the lack of a concrete confirmation he’d be with the summer league team.

Do the Boston Celtics need to move Aaron Nesmith to create a roster spot this offseason?

The Boston Celtics have 10 guaranteed contracts on the books for the 2022-23 season, with Aaron Nesmith’s being the ninth-highest salary figure. There are four non-guaranteed pacts for Nik Stauskas, Juwan Morgan, Malik Fitts, and Sam Hauser, plus two-way cap holds for Matt Ryan and Broderic Thomas. Five of the aforementioned names were included on the Las Vegas Summer League contract. Meanwhile, Yam Madar and Juhann Begarin could both make their way over from and the ABA League and LNB Pro A, respectively.

Assuming the Cs keep Thomas and Ryan on two-way deals and pick up the club option on Hauser, Morgan, or both, there are very few roster spots if the front office wants to add new talent via the team’s three TPEs and the taxpayer’s MLE.

Given Nesmith’s struggles, it could make sense for Stevens to potentially package the Vanderbilt product along with the aforementioned future second-rounders to trade into the first-round if there is a can’t-miss prospect on Brad Stevens’ big board.